All is Fair Game

Update 04/02/2017

April 2nd, 2017 4:03 PM

Housing Wire NAHB:

White House asked for our help to get Gorsuch on Supreme Court Builders' group says will help work to avoid Democrat filibuster Ben Lane March 24, 2017 with the threat of Democratic filibuster looming in the Senate, the White House is apparently turning to homebuilders for help with getting Neil Gorsuch confirmed as the country’s next Supreme Court justice. According to a post from the National Association of Homebuilders, the group’s CEO, Jerry Howard, visited the White House on Thursday as part of a “small group” of national association executives who were asked to help in the confirmation process for Gorsuch. And according the group’s post, the NAHB will answer the White House’s call. “As Senate Democrats prepare for a filibuster, the Trump Administration has called on NAHB to help speed the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court — and your association is honored to comply,” the group said in the post. Gorsuch is currently in the confirmation process to fill the court’s open seat, but Democrats are threatening to filibuster and perhaps scuttle Gorsuch’s nomination altogether. But the Republicans, the White House, and apparently homebuilders aren’t ready to give up on the Gorsuch fight. According to the post, Howard was at the White House to represent the real estate industry at the meeting, where the groups discussed “how these associations’ extensive grassroots networks can lead the charge” to get Gorsuch confirmed. The post states that NAHB senior leadership has “long viewed” Gorsuch as a “respected jurist” and as an “excellent” candidate for the Supreme Court. The group also says that there are a “number of important land use decisions” before the Supreme Court now, therefore it will be beneficial to see Gorsuch confirmed quickly. “Our members understand how important it is to fill this seat, and we will do everything we can to make it happen,” Howard said in the post. The NAHB’s post does not say if the group met with President Donald Trump or not, but Trump did attend the group’s mid-year meeting last year during his campaign. During the meeting, he spoke of his comfort in the room because he views himself as a builder and told the crowd that he intended to cut regulations if elected – a promise he’s worked to keep so far. And now NAHB is prepared to help the White House get Gorsuch confirmed. According to NAHB, its members will be doing work in the field to move Gorsuch’s nomination through. In addition to those efforts, NAHB is “planning an advertising and social media campaign targeting those states whose senators can work to avoid the filibuster to move the nomination process forward,” the group said. Headshot-for-hw-31 Ben Lane is the Senior Financial Reporter for Housing Wire. In this role, he helps set a leading pace for news coverage spanning the issues driving the U.S. housing economy. Previously, he worked for TownSquareBuzz, a hyper-local news service. He is a graduate of University of North Texas. Follow Ben on Twitter at @BenLaneHW.